Helix:
Season 1 (2014/Sony DVDs)
Picture:
B- Sound: B- Extras: B+ Episodes: C
Helix
is by no means a bad show but it doesn't quite hold a candle to
Guillermo Del Toro's new vampire series The Strain, which is
on the rival channel FX. Similar to John Carpenter's The
Thing, the series follows a team of scientists from the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention who travel to a research facility
in the Arctic to investigate a potential outbreak of disease. While
there, they find themselves stuck in a life-or-death situation that
could decide the future of mankind.
Proscribed
genetic engineering research is being done, and the company running
the research station seems more concerned in containing knowledge of
their activities than in resolving the actual outbreak of sticky
black alien substance. Surprise. Surprise.
Many
desperate attempts at quarantine result in mutiny and attempted
escape, and communication with the outside world is mysteriously cut
off. It is unclear at first whether the goal is a bio-weapon or to
transform humans in some way, and there are two variants of the
virus. The first is immediately fatal with no cure. Those infected
with the second virus become dangerously violent zombie-like
creatures known as Vectors, that spread the infection to others, with
a small percentage eventually regaining some normality if treated, as
it seems several characters have already been infected and cured.
Those cured seem to have the ability to control the infected. The
intense show stars Billy Campbell, Hiroyuki Sanada, Kyra Zagorsky,
and Mark Ghanime as Major Sergio Balleseros. The production value
isn't terrible but the whole series has kind of an unoriginal tone.
The special effects vary from good to bad and the cast feels very TV.
The
Three Disc set contains all 13 episodes and here are available in
standard definition DVD preserving the original 16 X 9 aspect ratio
of 1.78:1 of the original broadcast. The picture and sound are fine
for the format but doesn't compare obviously to that of the Blu-ray
format. The sound is fine with a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 track and
subtitles are on the disc in English SDH, Spanish, Chinese, Korean,
Thai and French. Total running time for this set is 531 minutes.
Sony
did a great job with the bonus materials here featuring Cast and
Crew Commentaries On The Pilot Episode and Dans L'Ombre, Ronald D.
Moore: The Outlier of Science Fiction, The Future of Disease, The Art
of Isolation, Dissecting The Characters, Outtakes, and Deleted
Scenes.
-
James Harland Lockhart V
www.vimeo.com/jamielockhart
